


Last Resort

by 401



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Brainwashing, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Steve Rogers Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 15:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6811327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/401/pseuds/401
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time is running out and Steve has to send Bucky to a dark place very quickly to save both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last Resort

 

  
"I can't," Bucky called from behind the window of his cell, "They're holding me here. I can't leave.

 

 Steve put his hands on the glass, pressing and testing. Reinforced, yes, but not unbreakable. The shield would bounce right off, he knew that much. He struck it with a punch, ignoring the feeling of his second knuckle breaking to throw down a second. His wrist gave way this time. He closed his eyes and swallowed the discomfort, egging up for a third punch before Bucky interrupted him.

 

"Steve, stop!" Bucky warned, "You're gonna' really hurt yourself. Please."

 

Steve gritted his teeth and bounced on his toes, frustrated at his lack of options. The cell was large and white, with a small bed against the far wall that did not look like it could be used as a battering ram. It was barely high enough for Bucky to stand in, presumably to keep him sitting for easier containment. There was no code lock or control panel from the outside, just thick seams of smooth concrete, printed with Cubicle 24 in the right hand corner.

 

"Please Bucky, try for me. Please try, they can't punish you anymore Buck," Steve reassured.

 

Bucky clenched his hands into fevered fists in his hair and shook his head. The prospect of breaking out paralysed him. He had fought guards, kicked, sworn , bitten, but he had never attempted to escape confinement. He had wanted to, countless times he had planned it, but when it came to it his mind filled with red, twisted images of the punishment he would face. The words of his handlers would echo through him like shockwaves after an earthquake. Enforced loyalty would bring him to his knees in a pile of sour guilt and shame.

 

"Bucky, I know you're scared. I just need you to hit the glass for me. One big punch," Steve explained, "You're arm is stronger than mine, just one punch, Buck."

 

Bucky whispered a silent apology, tears coming down his face faster than he expected. He reached up to make the punch, but his arm faltered, shivering back down to his side like a lost thought. Nausea coiled in his stomach and he shook his head again.

 

"I'm sorry, Steve. I'm so sorry," He ducked his head, a flush of embarrassment cloaking his face and neck.

 

Steve nodded and put both hands on the glass, staring at Bucky helplessly. The idea that hit him next filled Steve with his own guilt, the dirty, sickening kind that comes from true betrayal. Steve looked around at the smoke filled room. The ceiling was falling in chunks and water from a burst main was rising to his knees. He made the decision silently.

 

"Bucky," Steve said quietly.

 

Bucky nodded, pushing the tears from his cheeks.

 

"Bucky I am so sorry for what I am about to do," Steve admitted sincerely, "But we are going to die in here if I don't."

 

Bucky stood back, a look of confusion replacing the sadness on his face.

 

"What? Steve, tell me."

 

Steve took a slow breath.

 

"Longing, rusted..."

 

"Steve, no. Oh my god, _Steve NO!_ ,"

 

"Furnace, daybreak, seventeen..."

 

"Steve, _PLEASE_ ," Bucky panted, "I'll hurt..."

 

Steve winced as Bucky instinctively dropped to his knees, gripping his ears. A tortured growl left him, raw at the back of his throat. The sound made Steve's eyes water. It was caustic and animal.

 

"Benign, nine, homecoming, one..."

 

"Steve....fuck, fuck, fuck!"

 

Bucky punctuated the profanities with dangerously forceful head-butts against the glass. Steve swallowed the instinct to make him stop, comfort him and tell him it would all plan out. He needed to do what had to be done.

 

"Freight car."

 

  
Steve stood back as Bucky disassociated, his left fist hitting the glass with the uncomfortable whine of metal against glass. Two more punches fell before cracks spread from the impact like a spider's web. Bucky screamed something in Russian, the growl in his voice hitting Steve in the gut like sour milk, unwelcome and unfamiliar. Bucky threw himself at the glass again, finally breaking through, falling into the knee-deep water at Steve's feet. He stood quickly, flying at the Captain instantly. Steve tried not to look him in the eye. He had made that mistake before. The 'Bucky' behind the Winter Soldier became visible when he did that, and Steve could not fight him. His punches would become weak, biased towards less pain and he would let the enraged soldier win.

 

"There we go," Steve comforted, grunting as he took Bucky's punches against the shield, "Get it out, that's alright."

 

Bucky kneed Steve hard in the ribs, taking them both to the ground with a thick splash against the deepening water. Steve wrapped his legs around Bucky's middle, holding and restraining him with that lethal arm pinned behind him. He pressed his elbow hard against Bucky's windpipe and held on. Bucky struggled harder at first, breaking Steve's brow bone with the back of his head, but slowly, his kicking weakened and he fell slack, unconscious against Steve's shoulder.

 

Steve sighed, letting his head lull against Bucky's for a moment, catching his breath and his thoughts against the warmth of wet hair. He lifted Bucky over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, jogging them out of the compound.

 

Steve laid Bucky on the backseat of the Jeep he had borrowed from Sam (he had not told him he was borrowing it, but it would get back to him all the same) and started to drive home, planning his explanation in his head like a prayer.

 

                                                                 ###

 

"Sam, I need a hand," Steve called out, opening the apartment door with his foot, still carrying 240lbs of passed out weight, "I've got him back."

 

Sam jogged to the door, taking the shield from Steve before shoving his own things off of the couch so Bucky could lie there.

 

"Is everything good?" Sam asked, feeling the tension and discomfort rolling off of Steve in waves. His movements were urgent and stressed.

 

"I don't know what he's going to be like when he wakes up," Steve replied flatly, pushing the coffee table and the other couch out of the way.

 

"Steve, what do you mean, Man? Is he hurt?" Sam asked, following the Captain's lead automatically and moving the lamp and the side table away from the couch too.

 

Steve shook his head and sat down cross-legged on the floor, raking his hands over his eyes. Sam sat down next to him and put a hand on his back.

 

"What went down, Cap?" Sam whispered, softening his voice.

 

"I said...the words. You know when he freezes up because of the all of the conditioning and just can't do something, like when he can't break a military rule or something? They were holding him in some sort of a cell and I needed him to break the glass with the arm. He couldn't do it, his mind wouldn't let..."

 

Steve's voice trailed off and he swallowed hard.

 

"So I said those words, the ones that make him flip out so that he would punch his way through. The room was filling up with smoke and water; I had to do it. I don't know if he'll still be in Winter mode when he wakes up."

 

Sam nodded, sighing. He gave Steve's shoulder a squeeze before standing up and grabbing three diet cokes and putting them on the displaced coffee table.  
   
Bucky shifted a little, frowning and rubbing his neck.

 

"Steve..." He mumbled hoarsely, "Steve, where are you?"

 

Steve shuffled closer quickly, holding Bucky's hand that was dangling off of the couch. It was cool and clammy with sweat. He squeezed it to warm hit up, rubbing it between both of his.

 

"Right here, I'm right here," Steve whispered, patting Bucky's hand.

 

Bucky rolled over onto his side, looking Steve in the eyes. The Captain could see no traces of the Winter Soldier there. He loved moments like this, when the cold calculation and brutality that he could sometimes see in Bucky was replaced by something so innocent and fragile that it pushed every protective instinct in Steve into overdrive. There was quite a role-reversal there, Steve thought, from Bucky being his absolute guardian to him being Bucky's protector. The only thing was, Bucky used to protect Steve from cold nights and bullies. Steve had to protect Bucky from himself.

 

"You are so stupid," Bucky muttered, "Steve, I could've killed you."

 

Steve shushed him and put a hand on his forehead, pushing his hair out of his face, still damp from the flooded bunker.

 

"Worth it," Steve shrugged, "Got you home again, didn't I?"

 

Bucky sighed and nodded, closing his eyes. Steve kissed his forehead and stood up.

 

"Go back to sleep," He suggested, "I'll just be down the hall. Holler if you need me."

 

"Mmm," Bucky hummed, "Okay."

 

Steve started down the hall, Sam in tow.

 

"He loves you to pieces," Sam smiled, "You know that, right?"

 

Steve sighed and smiled.

 

"Yeah," he grinned, "I know."

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
